Most of Wallula was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2007. Below: maps from 1891 on and the census since 2000.
The Lewis and Clark Expedition reached this area April 27, 1806, on their return journey from the Pacific. The expedition spent three days at the village of Chief Yallept and his tribe of Walla Walla people (relatives of the Nez Perce), in the company of about a hundred Yakama people. Meriwether Lewis estimated the total of Native American people at around 550. There the expedition learned of an overland route to the Nez Perce homelands, which shortened their route by some eighty miles.
Passages that mention Wallula, cut from the printed page as they were published.
An illustrated history of Walla Walla County, state of Washington1901 · page 108Read the page →
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called luider the act of 1869. but the proposition to bond the county was adversely met at the polls. In ISlarcli, 1872, the railroad company began work at Wallula. grading several miles of the road within that year. A railroad from Walla Walla to La Grande was surveyed as far as Umatilla, wlien the project was abandoned.
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An illustrated history of Walla Walla County, state of Washington1901 · page 321Read the page →
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building of this favored section of our national domain. It should be mentioned in this connection that ]\Ir. AIcMorris laid out the town of Wallula and also donated to the railroad company the land which they use for depot purposes there. He is a member of the Indian \\'ar Veterans of the Pacific Northwest, and his reminiscences of the early days are very inter-
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Wallula, 1862 to 1964
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Wallula. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1964Wallula sheet · 1:24,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Wallula.
Every building
Wallula, building by building, 1891–1909
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1891Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
People over time
Wallula, census by census
Between 140 and 197 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Wallula’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about Wallula’s history
What year was Wallula founded?
The Wallula post office opened in 1862, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From the Library of Congress (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
![building of this favored section of our national domain. It should be mentioned in this connection that ]\Ir. AIcMorris laid out the town of Wallula and also donated to the railroad company the land which they use for depot purposes there. He is a member of the Indian \\'ar Veterans of the Pacific …](https://images.townratings.com/story/47316/bk-17bda19ce5e43d4b-l.jpg)
2018
